2009 Science News of the Year: Humans

Ardi puts new spin on hominid evolution
A 4.4-million-year-old partial female skeleton discovered in Africa, along with fossils from at least 36 of her comrades, provide the first
comprehensive look at any ancient hominid species older than Lucy (SN: 10/24/09, p. 9).

The skeleton, dubbed Ardi, looks unlike any living primate, suggesting that today’s chimps provide poor models of the last common ancestor of humans and African apes, researchers assert. &l

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